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Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

min answer › question first answered

2018-11-08T16:30:00.597Z

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To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment
he has made of the effect of reported environmental policy plans of the President-Elect
of Brazil on (a) the environment in that country and (b) global climate change targets.

<p>The UK and Brazil have a close dialogue on issues of mutual interest and concern,
both bilaterally and globally, including on climate and the environment. We are aware
of a number of proposals reported during the recent election period. The new Brazilian
President takes office on 1 January 2019. It is for the Government of the day to formulate
its own policies and it would be inappropriate to speculate at this stage on the decisions
that the new Government may make. Climate and environment issues form an important
part of our work with Brazil and we look forward to continuing our dialogue on these.</p>

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps
his Department has taken to ensure that the food and farming sector has sufficient
access to labour in order to sustain British food production (a) now and (b) in the
future.

<p>Defra understands the importance of labour in supporting a successful and effective
agricultural sector, and is considering how best to support the needs of the sector
both before and after the UK withdraws from the EU.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>We
have announced that the Government will introduce a new pilot scheme for 2019 and
2020, enabling up to 2,500 non-European Economic Area migrant workers to come to the
UK to undertake seasonal employment in the edible horticultural sector.</p><p> </p><p>
</p><p> </p><p>Defra is also working closely with the Home Office to ensure that there
is a long term strategy for the food and farming workforce as part of the future immigration
policy.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Defra is working with industry to raise awareness
of the career opportunities within the agriculture and food industry to attract domestic
workers, and is exploring the potential for innovation and automation in meeting future
labour demands.</p><p> </p>

<p>We published the Litter Strategy for England in April 2017, setting out our aim
to clean up the country and deliver a substantial reduction in litter and littering
within a generation.</p><p>We have launched the Litter Innovation Fund to support
councils and communities in the development and evaluation of innovative approaches
to tackling litter. From April 2018, we have also increased the maximum fixed penalty
for littering and given councils in England new powers to tackle littering from vehicles.</p><p>The
first annual report on our progress delivering the actions set out in the Litter Strategy
was published in July this year, and we will continue to report annually on our progress
for the rest of this Parliament.</p>

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress
he has made on the development of the infrastructure requirements for customs and
veterinary border arrangements to ensure seamless trade in food with the EU after
the UK leaves the EU.

<p>There will be no immediate change to import controls for consignments originating
in EU countries when we leave the EU. Currently, only risk-based checks are carried
out at the final destination and these will continue when we leave the EU.</p><p>
</p>

<p>The Agriculture Bill currently going through parliament provides the powers necessary
to support sustainable livestock production by making payments to farmers for adopting
approaches to farm husbandry that improve animal health and welfare and which protect
the farmed environment. It also creates the powers needed to improve fairness and
transparency in the supply chain so that livestock farmers can provide a fairer price
for the food they produce. Finally, the government aims to secure a deep and comprehensive
free trade deal with the EU that continues to provide for frictionless, tariff-free
trade.</p><p> </p>

<p>The Government aims to secure a deep and comprehensive free trade deal with the
EU that continues to provide for frictionless, tariff-free trade, supporting the continued
success of our agricultural sectors. Our departure from the EU also provides an opportunity
for the UK to have an independent trade policy and a new agriculture policy which
enables game producers and other sectors to improve their productivity and competitiveness
outside of the EU, while also improving our environment. We remain confident in the
resilience of our agricultural sectors and their ability to thrive outside of the
EU.</p><p> </p>

<p>On the 15th June the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) accepted a commission from
the Home Secretary to review the full composition of the Shortage Occupation List
(SOL) for the first time since 2013. The SOL covers non-EEA migration for highly skilled
roles. The MAC will report in spring 2019.</p><p> </p><p>In the meantime Defra continues
to work closely with other Government Departments, including the Home Office, to ensure
a long term strategy for the food and farming workforce, including veterinarians,
as part of the future immigration policy.</p>

<p>Defra officials continually study statistics about the veterinary profession. The
sources are publicly available through the website of the Royal College of Veterinary
Surgeons (RCVS).</p><p> </p><p>The number of vets who may be required after the UK
leaves the EU varies according to the range of scenarios.</p><p> </p><p>We anticipate
some extra demand would be created in the unlikely event that the UK does not reach
a deal with the EU relating to the certification of animals and animal products for
export to the EU. RCVS has announced its agreement to a proposal from Defra for the
creation of a new type of a supporting officer role in aid of the export certification
work. This would potentially reduce the additional demands on vets.</p><p> </p><p>Defra
continues to work with other Government Departments and veterinary stakeholders on
further initiatives to ensure sufficient veterinary capacity.</p>

<p>The Government has no immediate plans to change the rabies regime in the short
term following the UK’s departure from the EU. For entry into the UK the current pet
travel health requirements will continue to apply, although additional controls could
be considered at a later date</p><p><br> The UK harmonised with the EU Pet Travel
Scheme (PTS) rules in 2012. In 2011 we made an assessment of the risk of rabies introduction
to the UK. This assessment concluded that the risk of an animal with rabies entering
the UK under the PTS was very low. Since then, there have been no cases of rabies
in pets entering the UK under the PTS. However, the Government continues to monitor
the disease situation and will undertake a further formal risk assessment if evidence
indicates that one is warranted.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>When the UK leaves
the EU it will be a third country. This means pet animals entering the EU from the
UK would need to continue to follow the rules of the PTS. On 24 September this year
a Technical Notice ‘<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/taking-your-pet-abroad-if-theres-no-brexit-deal/taking-your-pet-abroad-if-theres-no-brexit-deal"
target="_blank">Taking your pet abroad if there’s no Brexit deal</a>’ was issued.
On 6 November the Government issued follow up guidance and advice on <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pet-travel-to-europe-after-brexit"
target="_blank">Pet travel to Europe after Brexit</a> in the unlikely event that the
UK becomes an unlisted third country.</p>